Analysis Of Vague Language In Intercultural Communication

Since the theory of "Fuzzy Set" was proposed in 1965, people have done research on vague language. As far as we may know, vague language, as a strategy by which speakers reduce the force of their utterance, is a phenomenon shared by most languages. People have many beliefs about language. An important one is that good use of language involves clarity and precision. Vague language is not totally accurate or clear. Speakers use vague language when they are unable or unwilling to give accurate information, or they think it is either unnecessary or socially inappropriate to do so. With the globalization of the world, intercultural communication has become a hot topic, but little study on the vague language in intercultural communication has been seen until now.Then the present study will approach the vague language from the intercultural perspective, the study aims to introduce the definition of vague language, analyze its linguistic realization in intercultural communication and identify the motives behind the employments of vague language. I set out define the vague language, which means fuzziness, generality, ambiguity and implicature or indirection in communication, and use principles in pragmatics and intercultural communication to analyze the features and functions of vague language, and work towards answering the following questions:l.What are the features of vague language in intercultural communication?2.Why, when and where is vague language used in intercultural communication?3. The culture influence on vague language in interculturalcommunication.4. Pragmatic functions of vague language in interculturalcommunication.Based on the analysis of the examples from articles or books in intercultural communication, it is found that the vague language in intercultural communication has its own features: indeterminacy, determinacy and variability, the vague language can be realized by using vague words, hedges and implicatures. Culture has great impact on the usage of vague language, people have different tendencies and motives in using vague language. Vagueness is an intrinsic attribute of language and vague language is ubiquitous and unavoidable in intercultural communication. If people have no access to vague words and expressions, the range of their communication would be severely restricted. Vague words and expressions are frequently used in intercultural communication for different purposes. People employ vague language when they fail to remember the correct or exact words, when they lack knowledge of specific words, when they want to create new implicatures or cancel certain implicatures, when they want to show their cooperation and politeness, or when they deliberately want to express their particular illocutionary force or hidden intention. The use of vague language can, to some degree, help them achieve the purposes and enhance the understanding of each other.Different cultures influence individuals use of vague words and expressions, the result is many variances in usage between different cultures. Vague language reflects culture and cannot exist without culture or society. The habit of choosing words and expressions in particular ways represents the characteristics of a nation about their national customs and conventions, their view ofvalue and their characters. Different traditional norms, geographical locations, cultural context and value systems will result in the different usage of vague language. Consider the maxims of the PP, the maxims of CP, the face theory and the power theory, Chinese people emphasize to maximize praise of other and even maximize dispraise of self in order to show politeness and modesty while English speakers, especially Americans seldom maximize dispraise of self, which they consider as a threat to their own face. The use of vague language is closely related to face, especially when vague language is deliberately or motivatedly deployed. When we lack special information or are uncertain about what we want to say, we can deliberately deploy vague words or expressions in order to avoid being wrong or making mistakes. If we are wrong or make mistakes, we would usually feel ashamed and the face is likely to be threatened. So efforts should be made at and attention should be paid to the differences in the use of vague language and its pragmatic functions in intercultural communication.The dominance of English in various fields demands non-native speakers focus more attention on pragmatic strategies such as vague language, while appropriate use of language could be a difficult thing to master for foreign language speakers. Learners of English as a second language or foreign language often sound bookish and pedantic because they don't know when, where and how to use vague language to successfully and effectively communicate in intercultural communication. Unlike the native speakers who have internalized their language and culture and know how to use vague language without having to pay much conscious attention to it, non-speakers may be unaware of the role of vague language and they may therefore only concentrate on thetransmission of the information at a more superficial level while ignoring the underlying social conventions. This will undoubtedly lead to a phenomenon that many people, after many years spent learning English, still cannot master the rule standard English. If vague words and expressions were used appropriately, they would be more effective rather than "bad". The pragmatic functions of vague language can help people achieve their particular communicative effects successfully. However, that doesn't mean vague language is better than precise language. Both precise language and vague language are necessary in intercultural communication, with each having its own particular functions in human communication.Everything has two sides. Vague language also has positive and negative roles. It can enhance the effectiveness of communication, improve the accuracy of expressions, reinforce the flexibility of expressions, make expressions more subtle, polite, vivid and lively. If it used inappropriately, the result is often misunderstanding or even disaster.